October 2007 Volume 10 Number 4 - Educational Technology ...

Attitudes toward concept mapping for science concept learning were positive whether the students were working
individually or collaboratively (see Table 4). Generating concept maps using the computer program, Inspiration,
provided students with a useful learning strategy and a positive experience. An interesting observation by both the
teacher and the researchers was that the students in the individual group were more positively engaged in their
studying than were the students who studied collaboratively. The teacher and researchers observed students in the
collaborative groups spending excessive time competing for control of the mouse and students complained vocally
about having to share the keyboard and work collaboratively. Only 50% of students in the collaborative group
thought that working with peers was helpful for studying and learning science concepts. Students’ negative attitudes
toward collaboration may have influenced their comprehension of concepts being studied and might explain why the
students in the individual group performed better than the students in the collaborative group.
The study strategy chosen by students in the control group when they prepared for the test was to simply read the
handout, while the students in the two experimental groups’ created and studied the relationships between bubbles on
their concept maps and links that they created during study time. Students who created concept maps expressed that
creating those maps and studying relationships between bubbles and links were quite helpful and fun for learning
science.
Discussion and conclusions
The findings provide further evidence that individually-generating concept maps during study time positively
influences science concept learning and that computer-based concept mapping can be facilitative. But findings do not
support the assumption that collaborative learning is more effective than learning individually. Students enjoyed
Inspiration software which supported their construction of concept maps for science learning and helped them
capture their quickly evolving ideas and organize them for meaningful learning. These findings provide evidence that
constructivist learning theory is correct regarding learners’ needs to organize and represent concepts visually and
explore interrelationships among concepts. However, in this case, social construction of meaning using concept maps
was no more effective than application of a self-selected study strategy.
The Positive Effect of Concept Mapping on Learning
These findings replicate previous research results (Cifuentes & Hsieh, 2003a, b; Cifuentes & Hsieh, 2004, Hsieh &
Cifuentes, 2003; Hsieh & Cifuentes, 2006). It extends the research by providing evidence that individuallygenerating
concept maps on computers is more effective than either independent, unguided study, or collaborativelygenerating
concept maps. However, the findings do not support Fischer, et al’s (2002) assumption that collaborative
knowledge construction is more effective than individual knowledge construction. Qualitative findings suggest that
the reason that students in the collaborative group did not score significantly higher than the control group on
achievement might have been lack of a disciplined, supportive collaborative working environment.
Cifuentes and Hsieh (2004) previously demonstrated that distraction of computers and software and the difficulty of
visualization can contribute to lack of the effectiveness of computer-based visualization. Students in the school
setting of this study were not motivated to collaborate with each other and were distracted by each other, the
computers, and the software. Most of the participants did not have computers at home and the school district had
limited technical facilities. The participating students learned concept mapping using computers for the first time in
the context of this study. In addition, according to their own self-report, most students had had few opportunities to
develop collaborative learning skills in their young school careers. With computer skills, concept mapping, and
collaboration all new to the students, the combined tasks challenged them. To be effective, all three components of
the experiment required sophistication on the part of learners.
Perhaps more experienced learners would produce a different result. Findings indicate that teachers should train their
students in computer-based concept mapping and facilitate adoption of concept-mapping as an independent study
strategy. Deciding whether to adopt a computer-based individual concept mapping strategy or a computer-based
collaborative concept mapping strategy might be based upon characteristics of the learners and the learning context.
For example, a teacher should ask the following questions prior to implementing concept mapping: Do students feel
comfortable and competent working on computers during class time? Do students already know how to work
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